Lost 5.16 & 17: The Incident

***beware spoilers begin IMMEDIATELY***

Oh, Losties. My heart is broken. Eight months until season 6? A WHITE Screen O’Lost? A dead John Locke? A despondant Sawyer? A sacrificial Juliet? Miles yelling, “Dad!” It’s too much to bear!

I can already feel my wordiness bubbling up. So grab some oreos and sit tight. We’ve got lots to talk about…

The Flashback
Can I just say how brilliant this was? A JACOB FLASHBACK. Who saw that coming? I just sat in awe during that first scene.

So, we see Jacob in the temple weaving a tapestry type thing for The Island. He’s catching fish, having a beachside breakfast while watching THE BLACK ROCK sail in. And then. THEN. He is arguing with another Freaky Island Guy…maybe his servant? Or his brother? Or is this guy a Richard-type guy?

We immediately see their differences…Jacob is the blond-haired, white shirted, happy-to-be-me guy. He’s confident in his position. He is looking forward to the people coming to The Island. Freaky Island Guy on the other hand is our man in the black hat. He’s unhappy with the new arrivals. He says Jacob brought them on purpose to prove him wrong.

Freaky Island Guy: They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.
Jacob: It can only end once. Everything before that is progress.

I have NO idea what that means, but wasn’t it ominous? It is destined to be the most dissected conversation in Lost history. I think it is THE answer to every time travel question we have.

Their conversation ends with Freaky Island Guy saying, “Do you know how much I want to kill you?” Jacob responds with, “Yes. I guess you’ll just have to find a loophole.” And that my friends is what you call FORESHADOWING.

The next part of Jacob’s flashback is actually LOSTIE flashbacks. Just when we thought the intermingledness of our Losties had been revealed, we see Jacob visit several of them at important times in their lives.

Kate. She’s a little girl with her bff (remember him from season 1?). She steals a NKOTB lunchbox from a gas station. Just as the store owner is about to call the police, Jacob walks up and buys the lunchbox for her. He says, “You won’t steal again, right, Katie?” Then touches her on the nose. FREAKY.

Sawyer. We see young James at his parents’ funeral. Everyone has left and he is left alone at the church writing the letter to Mr. Sawyer. His pen runs out of ink and who offers him a new pen? JACOB.  He quickly leaves and James’ uncle steps in to remind James to move on because “what’s done is done”. RING A BELL?!

Jin & Sun. They have just exchanged vows and are receiving their guests after the ceremony. Jacob approaches and offers congratulations. He pats them both on the shoulder and leaves. Sun asks who he is. Jin replies, “I don’t know, but his Korean is excellent.” Which was hilarious given poor Jin’s fate of speaking Korean for the last 4 seasons!

Locke. Jacob is seen reading Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converge when suddenly we see a body fall from the sky behind him. It is of course, Locke. Locke appears dead until Jacob touches him. (What is this? Pushing Daisies?) Locke immediately reposnds and then Jacob says, “Im sorry this happened to you.”

Hurley. He is leaving prison. Remember he was taken to jail for murdering the people Sayid killed at “the safe house”? He gets in a cab and sees Jacob with a guitar case. Jacob jumps right to it and asks him why he is not going back to The Island. Hurley replies that he is cursed. Jacob insists Hurley is blessed. Jacob tells Hurley about the Ajira flight but is clear that it is Hurley’s choice to return. He leaves the guitar case with Hurley.

Sayid. He and the love of his life, Nadia are about to cross the street. (DEAR GOD! We know where this is going!) Jacob stops Sayid and asks for directions. Just then Nadia is run over by a car. *shudder*

Juliet. Her parents tell her and her sister they are getting a divorce. Her mother tells her just because you love each other doesn’t mean you should be together. Juliet bursts into tears and runs out of the room. *sob* NOTE: No Jacob.

Ilana. She is in a very yucky looking infirmary. Her face is bandaged and Jacob enters. He asks for her help. She is ready to give it. WHY?

1977.

Oh, 1977. I’m so sad for you. All the misery, like Jack mentioned last week, well, I feel like it’s been doubled by your bumbling actions. I’ll try to go quickly here because I’d rather talk about it than recap it…

Sawyer & Juliet and Kate
Kate does indeed convince Sawyer and Juliet to get off the sub and stop Jack. They don’t kill anyone but Sawyer does do a number on their communication devices.

When they get on The Island the first person they see isn’t a person at all…it’s VINCENT! And how’s he been living for the past three years? Why with Bernard and Rose, of course. They are the Swiss Family Robinson and lovin’ it. They spout some GREAT loving peacable advice but our triangle doesn’t listen.

In fact, the only thing that comes of this encounter is THE LOOK. Rose mentions some mumbo jumbo about true love and togetherness. And when she does Sawyer sneaks a peek at Kate. Juliet sees and does the awesome eye/face flicker thing she does.

They head off to find Jack and his bomb squad…

Jack, Sayid, Hurley, Jin & Miles
Jack and Sayid have successfully interpreted Daniel’s journal so they make their way up to the secret tunnel into Dharma-ville (with the help of Richard who knocks out Eloise). While wearing Dharma jumpsuits, Jack & Sayid are spotted by Roger Linus who throws a bullet right into Sayid’s gut. But our getaway van saves the day—poor Hurley, Jin and Miles have been in that van all season!

They begin to drive to The Swan station so Jack can detonate the bomb…and play Doctor Jack on the way.

However there is a ROADBLOCK. Namely our triangle—Kate, Sawyer & Juliet.

Oh, this was lovely. LOVELY.

Sawyer demands that Jack give him 5 minutes. Jack concedes and listens to Sawyer. (The first time EVER.) The conversation doesn’t go too well…Sawyer accuses Jack of ruining his life, of having a big mistake in his past, etc, etc. Finally, Sawyer throws a punch and we get the throwdown of the season. The one I’ve been looking forward to: Jack versus Sawyer.

And I think Sawyer would have won if Juliet hadn’t intruded. JULIET?

She tells Sawyer to stop because (are you ready for this?) Jack is RIGHT.

Sawyer is not happy and demands that Juliet tell him why she’s changed her tune.

And now THE LOOK comes back into play. She thinks Sawyer looked at Kate in THAT way. And then she starts spouting all this rot she heard from her mom and dad’s divorce while Sawyer looks on absolutley incredulous. I was hating every second of this.

Juliet takes a page from Jack’s book and tells Sawyer that she wants the bomb detonated and their life together wiped away because, “If I never meet you, then I never lose you.”

*waaaah*

In typical High School fashion, Jack heads toward the Swan Station after a, “See you in LA”. Then they all stand around the VW bus waiting to be transported to the future…or the past…or whenever.

But Radzinsky gets wind of their escapade and starts screaming louder than the past 2 episodes combined. Soon we’re in a gunfight between the Radzinsky Dharmites and our reunited Losties. Phil dies, Chang gets his hand impaled and Juliet gets wrapped up in some chains. Not a big deal…

UNLESS AN ELECTROMAGNETIC POCKET HAS BEEN OPENED. Every metal thing within miles came flying toward that hole. Including the chain-wrapped Juliet. Kate was the first to try to pull Juliet to freedom. Then Sawyer.

And I seriously have tears in my eyes typing this part.

Juliet is being pulled further and further into the hole while Sawyer yells “Don’t let go! I’ve got you! I’ve got you!” She responds with “I love you James! I love you James!” And suddenly, she’s ripped from his hand.

And she falls.

And Sawyer crumples.

Jack and Kate pull him to safety but all he can do is groan with the groanings of loss and pain and love. It was heart-breaking.

Our final scene is a very much alive Juliet at the bottom of the pit/hole/station. She’s bloody and bruised but staring at THE BOMB. She grabs a rock and begins to hit it with all her might. And suddenly she is succesful.

For it is the WHITE screen o’Lost.

Are you tired yet? Because we haven’t even hit upon 2007.

Locke, Richard, Ben and the Others are headed to Jacob’s home. On their trek Locke tells Ben that he is not going to kill Jacob…he wants Ben to do it. Ben is visibly freaked. There are a few more conversations and Sun is even in on them. But I kinda forget them because soon they arrive at Jacob’s home. Which I had kinda assumed was his cabin. It was not. Richard was leading them to the statue. Well, at least what was left of the statue…the foot.

Richard takes Locke & Ben to the statue, opens up a secret compartment and high-tails it out of there. A shaken Ben and a very excited Locke enter the FIRST scene of our episode…the same place we saw Jacob weaving.

Jacob is sitting in a rocking chair (where else?) and looks straight at Locke and delivers the most shocking line of the season, “So, you found a loophole.” To which Locke delivers the second most shocking line, “Indeed, I did.”

LOCKE = FREAKY ISLAND GUY = JACOB’s ARCH NEMESIS = WHO THE HECK IS JOHN LOCKE?

Ben is suddenly a little boy again—all scared and vulnerable. Jacob looks at him and says, “You have a choice, Benjamin.” To which Ben busts out with, “I’ve served you for years! I’ve done everything you said and now I have a CHOICE? Who is Locke to get marched up to your door? What about ME?” To which Jacob responds, “What about you?”

And here Locke/FIG gets what he wants…Ben stabs Jacob to death. and right before evil-Locke kicks Jacob into the fire Jacob utters his last words, “They’re coming.”

Who’s coming? Well, I’m not exactly sure who he was talking about BUT someone did show up at the beach  looking for Ricardus…er, Richard. Yes, Ilana and her crew (toting a confused and maybe important Frank Lapidus). They have their giant silver box and open it to show Richard…

THE BODY OF DEAD JOHN LOCKE

the end

I was literally shocked for about 45 minutes. The thing I was dreading all of last season came true—Locke is dead! Remember when Richard first saw him post-resurrection? He said, “You seem different.” YEAH, because it wasn’t him! It was some crazy nemeisis god-type guy from The Island’s early days staging a coup on John Locke’s body and mind. Holy cow!

OK. So many things to talk about…

1. Jacob.

So. Jacob is a corporeal being. I was not expecting that. But he does have some wicked powers. In fact, he gives powers to our only other supernatural guy, Richard. But is Jacob good? I tend to think so. Or maybe he’s the lesser of two evils. If he’s really been the driving force behind The Others, I can’t imagine that Jacob is all good. And what’s up with him hooking up with all our Losties? Why was he touching all of them? Marking them? Reading them? Persuading them? All of the above? Why didn’t he touch Sayid? Hurley?

2. Jacob’s Arch Nemesis, the Man in the black hat, New-Evil-Locke: Freaky Island Guy.

OK, so I need a better name for him. I’m leaning towards Esau. I think Jacob and this guy are yin/yang, light/dark, good/evil. I think they have been set up as some kind of co-leaders of The Island. And maybe FIG doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like being saddled here with Mr. Jacob. But by some cosmic, fairy-folk-tale, he’s not allowed to touch his co-leader. So, he’s gone back in time, recreated a body, learned everything about everyone and effectively manipulated EVERYTHING we’ve ever seen on The Island to kill Jacob and become the King of the Mountain. Also. I think he might be Smokey.

3. Jacob’s Flashbacks.

Possibly Jacob was going back in time to mark the Losties for his future murder. Maybe  he knew what his “brother” was doing. And somehow these touches are going to save them/him. Or lead them. Or something.

This would make sense if Sayid and Juliet are going to die. Because he didn’t touch them. In fact, he wasn’t even in Juliet’s flashback. That was weird.

4. Sawyer & Juliet.

I. was. right. Sawyer HEARTS Juliet. I think Juliet was LOOKING for Sawyer to give her a reason to distrust him. Sawyer only wanted Juliet and his good Dharma-life. I don’t think he did LOOK at Kate. Even if he did, it wasn’t how Juliet thought. I thought it was very Shakespeare of Juliet–dying for something that wasn’t true. But I’m sick about it. SICK.

5. Kate & Jack.

What the heck is Jack’s problem? He confesses his undying  love for Kate to Sawyer? Whatever. Yeah, Jack and Kate shared some stares. Kate is behind him and trusts him and all that other i-need-affirmation blah blah that Jack needs. But I just don’t care for either one of them. Why in the WORLD are they going to have a happily ever after while Sawyer watches his true love torn from his arms?

6. Miles’ Theory.

While they are waiting for Jack to detonate the bomb, Miles asks the question we’ve been asking for a couple of episodes, “What if Jack is in fact THE incident?” And I think he’s right. We’ve seen it the last several episodes—Jack NOT operating brings bad Ben, Miles telling Chang to evacuate takes Chang out of his life…when you do what you think you need to do to CHANGE the past, it always becomes the thing that MAKES the past. Jack IS the Incident. If he (and Daniel) hadn’t freaked, the drilling may not have gone on, the evacuation may not have happened, the station not built and the plane not crashed.

7. Recurring Themes.

First of all, can someone please explain what “live together, die alone” means? I know it was the title of an episode. I know Jack said it. But what does it mean? Why did Juliet say it again?

Secondly, Whatever happened, happened. Sawyer’s uncle said it again, “What’s done is done.” Sawyer even told Jack before their beatdown that he could have got on that sub and stopped his dad from killing anyone. But he didn’t. Because “what’s done is done.” Is that true? Or is LOST trying to prove it wrong? How much more time travel are we going to have? Is this really going to end with a “DESTINY WINS” or “FREE WILL RULES” outcome?

8. Richard

When Ilana approached him, she asked him, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” He responded in latin, “The one who saves us.” (or something close to that) Was he talking about Jacob? Who is Ilana and her crew? What do they know? Who do they work for? Are they ageless like Richard? They seem to be on Jacob’s side.

I got the impression that Richard’s other job (beside advisor) is protector of the Other’s leader. That’s why he knocked out Eloise, to save the “real” leader—the then young Ben. But Richard may be just as much a pawn as any of them. I’m thinking he came in on The Black Rock and has never left—made everlasting by Jacob. (Not an original theory…just can’t remember where I read it first…)

Random Theory
The Losties are knocked back to 2007 because of Juliet’s sacrifice. Juliet is dead, along with Sayid. (Or he will die shortly.) Ben, The Others and our Losties will have to choose sides—either be on Jacob’s side OR on evil-Locke’s side. But nothing will actually change…

Freaky Island Guy: They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.
Jacob: It can only end once. Everything before that is progress.

We will see fighitng, destruction and corruption. It will only happen once. It will only end once. We are seeing the Losties’s timeline. It may jump all over the years and decades, but it is still THEIR present. And it will only happen once. The series will end sadly. Bitterly sad. And I will turn in my Lostie card if Jack and Kate walk away unscathed to plan their wedding.

Conclusion
The white screen at the end was just the best ever. I loved it. I just really need to watch it about twelve more times and talk about it for a week or two. Then begin to mourn the next eight months of no-lostiness.

What did you think? What was the biggest AHA! moment for you? Were there other answered qustions I missed? (I know I missed some stuff!) What big questions do you have now?

Don’t forget about me for the next eight months! Come tweet me @oohamanda or visit on my blog ohamanda.com